Archives for January 5, 2018

‘“From a week in and week out consistency basis, I definitely think it’s an improved unit,” Crossman said. “The biggest thing is, we had a good nucleus of guys to start with. That set a nice tone through training camp and the initial part of the season.”’

‘”I’m just happy they got over the hump,” Dareus said. “I’m happy for the guys that have been there and fighting with me to get things going to where it is now and get the opportunity to get in the playoffs.”‘

‘The Bills missed him along the defensive line this season, but they’re better off overall without him. He was the most overpaid defensive player in the league after signing the monster deal. But there’s no escaping this truth: At his best, when healthy, when motivated, when engaged, Dareus is among the best defensive tackles in the NFL.’

‘The News’ seven staff reporters/columnists picked the Bills for between four and seven wins, and none had them making the playoffs. A roundup of a dozen national preseason power rankings saw the Bills ranked between 26th and 31st.’

‘”I had hundreds of texts after the game,” Williams said. “Drew Hull texted me and said, ‘I want you to know that your boys are always going to remember that. Take that from someone who was there with my dad, Kent, during those years. And I have never forgotten that.’

‘The Drought Kids are a hearty bunch. Not only has middling football been a way of life, but so too has been listening to stories of the esteemed “good old days,” days when the Bills were terrorizing the NFL. The stories of going to four straight championships have been teased as actual happenings, the notion that the offense and defense were both good in the same season marveled.’

‘As they sat in a dispirited halftime locker room, many of his teammates figured the team’s two-year Super Bowl run was likely coming to an end. “I remember walking in, thinking, ‘I bet my wife has left the stadium and she’s packing for the offseason,’ ” said Mark Pike, the former special teams ace.’

‘”In some cases, I thought media around here began to celebrate: ‘Who is your favorite player in the drought?’ Who is the best quarterback in the drought?’ I was like, this is not one block of time … I was frustrated but I never looked at it like this is never going to end. Because several times over the 17 seasons, I thought this could be headed in the right direction and it got close a couple of times.”‘

‘The sports reporters and anchors being sent to Florida all have something in common that illustrates how long it has been since the Bills made the postseason and how much turnover there has been in sports departments here since the drought started in 2000: None of them has covered a Bills playoff game because none of them was on the air locally on Jan. 8, 2000, when the Bills had their last playoff game. And almost all of them weren’t even old enough to be in broadcasting back then.’

‘“They’re where they want to be, and I’m where I want to be,” Marrone continued. “I’m focused on my team and this game. That’s where my focus is. It’s not what’s gone on in my past, whether it be Buffalo or Syracuse or New Orleans or the Jets or wherever I may have been.”’

‘Coach Sean McDermott continues to be nebulous about McCoy’s status, saying it will be a game-time decision on whether he dresses or not. On Thursday, McDermott said it seems McCoy is moving in the right direction, so, “We’ll just see how he does.”’

‘We think our team will win, because it is impossible for us not to believe in them. It is the only option that doesn’t crush our spirits – which have been extraordinarily high since that spectacular moment on New Year’s Eve. You know, the one where our second favorite team, the Cincinnati Bengals, spent the last minute of their last game scoring The Touchdown that changed everything.’

‘”The most famous thing and most well-known thing about the Buffalo Bills has been their fans for this run of time,” said Golic. “In a place as cold and as isolated as Buffalo, these people have warmed our hearts and run screaming and burning into the minds of Americans everywhere each and every weekend. I have seen in videos on the internet, the most unspeakable horrors in Buffalo Bills pre-game parking lots. I have seen the creation of new life and I have seen the destruction of tables and port-a-johns. All of it, in the service of supporting a team that, until now, has not repaid the service of their fans.”‘

‘”I’m definitely happy how things are working out so far. But I have a lot more room for improvement. Especially where I want to be at. I know my body. Especially the way I play it’s more cutting than running. So I’m just trying to get better.”‘

‘”It’s not about me not experiencing it and them experiencing it,” he added. “I’m just really happy that it came. The timing? Hey, it is what it is. It’s a business. That’s how it goes. I’m just happy they got over the hump. I’m happy for the guys that have been there and fighting with me to get things going to where it is now and get the opportunity to get in the playoffs.”‘

‘If the Bills go one and done and lose Sunday afternoon at Jacksonville, players still walk away with $26,000. If the Bills knock off former coach Doug Marrone and the Jaguars, advancing to the divisional round, players will earn an extra $28,000 for facing the New England Patriots. That means if the Bills win, players are guaranteed at least $54,000.’

‘The Jaguars have a talented defense that can get after the quarterback. Jacksonville’s defense recorded 55 sacks during the regular season and they’ll look to pressure Tyrod Taylor on Sunday. Luckily for the Bills, Taylor is one of the most elusive quarterbacks in the NFL. If he can avoid the Jaguars’ pass rush, a play may develop down the field or Taylor may find open space to run. Not taking sacks is an important key for Taylor and the Bills offense.’

‘There is the former coach Doug Marrone, who left Buffalo, and NFL coaching, for a spell thanks to a loophole in his contract. There is Marcell Dareus who was traded during the season in what could be seen as a slap in his face. Then there is Bills RB LeSean McCoy, out of practice, not available for interviews on media day, and as DE Eric Wood simply explained, “Yeah, he’s our best player.”’

‘It’s refreshing in these cynical times to see the power of sports fanaticism result in a magnanimous outpouring that benefitted people outside their own community. The same can be said for the positive use of social media, too often the domain of bullies and trolls.’

‘The day after Buffalo’s loss to Jacksonville, Leo Roth of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle wrote: “Right now, the Bills are an aging boxer who has lost his knockout punch. Try as they might, they couldn’t put the exciting Jaguars away.”’

‘When his rookie contract ran out in 2011, he looked to re-sign with the Bills. However, Buffalo’s then-general manager Buddy Nix had other ideas. “We changed general managers, so I wasn’t one of their guys,” Posluszny said Thursday. “We were running a 3-4 [scheme]. I remember when I had my exit meeting the previous season, I was talking to the general manager about what I could do to stay, to get better. He said ‘we’d like to have you around 245-250 [pounds].’ To me, that [meant] I’m not their fit.”‘

‘It hardly was an unusual message, as NFL teams often find themselves with extra tickets after they are returned by groups who don’t have any need for them. But according to the Bills, they are not one of those groups…’.

‘For all of that magic, beating Marrone would be like icing on the cake. When he quit after guiding the team to a 9-7 finish, he never told his players. To this day, Marrone hasn’t explained his decision publicly, although there’s much speculation that he was at odds with since-departed general manager Doug Whaley. He might have also been uncertain of where the franchise was headed under the direction of the new owners, Terry and Kim Pegula. Then there was the financial windfall.’

‘McCoy spoke to the media on Thursday for the first time since suffering the injury in Sunday’s 22-16 win over the Miami Dolphins. He has yet to practice this week, but did participate in stretches Thursday before leaving the field with a trainer.’

‘”I don’t want to put the responsibility on me,” said Wycheck, who now serves as a radio host and is taking a one-season break as a Titans broadcast analyst. “But it was so long ago, too. I’m just glad they made it and I was happy for them.”‘

‘”I want to be able to cut well enough to where I don’t have a lot of pain cutting,” McCoy said. “I just want to be close, or the best as far as 100 percent as I can get. The type of game like this, you got to lay it all on the line. If I can’t get 100 percent, as long as I’m out there, and I can work effective enough, I’ll do it. We’ll just see.”‘

‘”Everyone on my team has been asking me the same questions, and I don’t want to lie to them,” he said. “People that know me, they know I want to be out there. But I’ve been in situations like this before here, playing on a bad ankle, bad foot, bad hamstring. I didn’t do well at all, and I kind of hurt it, being in the same situation.”‘

‘”The good thing is that it wasn’t as bad as I thought,” he said, via ABC 7 WKBW in Buffalo. We’ve just been treating it after I got back from the game. It’s been feeling a lot better. I’m out of the boot and I can walk around without any pain, so that’s a plus.”‘

‘A YouCaring.com spokesperson emailed that Bills fans raised over $30,000 for the Western PA Youth Athletic Association since the end of the Bengals-Ravens game. Boyd himself took to Twitter to thank the people of Buffalo for their generosity.’